That article is so insulting, unless his purpose was solely to "throw Nole a bone," crudely speaking.

"Djokovic ain't pretty. He is a jarhead in many people's eyes - although the man speaks four languages and has a great deal going on in that elongated skull - and an ugly tennis player. He crushes the ball, just as he crushed Ferrer's manhood. "Inhuman" is an adjective oft used to describe Djokovic's play."

Is this paragraph really necessary? Why mention Nole's elongated skull and not Roger's enormous nose? Is it because Federer is an artist, thus it would be wrong to criticize anything he does? How is Novak's play "inhuman" when Federer is the magician? I thought magicians were the ones who made the impossible, possible?

I acknowledge Federer's unique style of play and obvious talent of the game; he's clearly the best ever. But, why is it that I never hear about the countless forehand mishits and backhand shanks that end up being winners? .... Oh wait, that must be the art.

Yeah I saw it like that too. What is that idiotic babbling about beauty? Is he suggesting Nole is not beautiful? what a loat of crap.
And I'm done with the underestimating thing. It's just something you repeat endlessly so you believe it. I don't think he is. I can tell you a thousand articles of praise and devotion to Djokovic, not just in tennis circles, but also in fashion magazines. So, no, I don't agree with anything at all.
The guy who wrote this is unprofessional and biased. probably a fedtard.

I remember thinking he did look noticeably improved, both gamewise and confidence in Wimbledon 2010. Hewitt was ranked low 20s/early 30s, but still felt like a massive match in the 4R. I was pretty tense throughout the match, even after Nole went 2 sets up (memories of the month before, obvs ) - and you could see how much it meant to him too, with the original (half) shirt ripping celebration...

it was after the Rochus match I feel - he'd lost to X-Man in Queens, and then his old nemesis Rochus awaited him in the 1R. after that - can't remember his 2R, but he looked great against Montanes in 3R and against Lu in the QF. shame he was rubbish in the semis that tiebreak was epic until the DF...

and being a tennis fan, a big reason for supporting Nole is that I love to watch him play tennis (esp. when he's aggressive) - he has lovely clean groundstrokes, and now, a good looking service motion again. so obviously, I think that article is mostly completely subjective bollocks - "he needs to win beautiful" - in your eyes, clearly. he does a lot of the time in mine (that's the point).

Exactly. There is this propagand machine going telling us that Federer plays beautiful and Djokovic plays ugly. What the fuck? I like Nole because I enjoy his tennis style the most, for me his shots are astonishing, absolutely beautiful and his shotmaking is mesmerizing. That's not winning ugly. This guy is an idiot.

Lol, I guess we were reading two different articles. They way I see it (and why I liked it) is that the article points out that Novak's game and qualities are much deeper than perceived at first sight.

Gebhard Gritsch said something similar in his interview to some Basel papers I think - I don't speak German, but the conclusion is along the lines that you should know your stuff to truly appreciate what Novak is doing. Maybe some German speaker can explain better:

Btw, can't agree that Novak is still not understimated to some degree; it's unreal how often all attention was on Murray last year, and even a number of 'pundits' hinted or declared him as the best player of 2012. Never mind that before Wimbledon he was even top 5 in the race. I can't even imagine how it would look like if it was his 6th slam here, and not Novak's.

Unrelated to all that, here is one more interesting article, about Nole and tiebreakers. It's very long, so just the link:

__________________“There’s so many athletes, tennis players around the world,” he continued, trying to put his life into some kind of perspective, “they want to be the best in what they do. They want to succeed. Many of them, they don’t succeed in the end. I’m fortunate to have this opportunity and succeed.”

Exactly. There is this propagand machine going telling us that Federer plays beautiful and Djokovic plays ugly. What the fuck? I like Nole because I enjoy his tennis style the most, for me his shots are astonishing, absolutely beautiful and his shotmaking is mesmerizing. That's not winning ugly. This guy is an idiot.

that article is absolute rubbish. I'm a straight guy and I find Novak to be very good looking (much better looking than Fed). then all that crap about a white East European guy who plays ugly (excuse me, Nole's game is beautiful), whatever ... as if this guy was trying to glorify Fed at the expense of Nole. I don't think he is a pro journalist, probably just another Fed tard.

Lee has a good point. This 'article' was all over the place and it's just retarded . The guy talks about beauty of the game then he talks about beauty and ugliness of Nole and Fed, like WTF.

that article is absolute rubbish. I'm a straight guy and I find Novak to be very good looking (much better looking than Fed). then all that crap about a white East European guy who plays ugly (excuse me, Nole's game is beautiful), whatever ... as if this guy was trying to glorify Fed at the expense of Nole. I don't think he is a pro journalist, probably just another Fed tard.

Lee has a good point. This 'article' was all over the place and it's just retarded . The guy talks about beauty of the game then he talks about beauty and ugliness of Nole and Fed, like WTF.

Agree. I'm happy to see though that all the comments after the article were 100% positive for Nole and they all thought the guy was talking rubbish.

Lol, I guess we were reading two different articles. They way I see it (and why I liked it) is that the article points out that Novak's game and qualities are much deeper than perceived at first sight.

Gebhard Gritsch said something similar in his interview to some Basel papers I think - I don't speak German, but the conclusion is along the lines that you should know your stuff to truly appreciate what Novak is doing. Maybe some German speaker can explain better:

Btw, can't agree that Novak is still not understimated to some degree; it's unreal how often all attention was on Murray last year, and even a number of 'pundits' hinted or declared him as the best player of 2012. Never mind that before Wimbledon he was even top 5 in the race. I can't even imagine how it would look like if it was his 6th slam here, and not Novak's.

Unrelated to all that, here is one more interesting article, about Nole and tiebreakers. It's very long, so just the link:

Btw, can't agree that Novak is still not understimated to some degree; it's unreal how often all attention was on Murray last year, and even a number of 'pundits' hinted or declared him as the best player of 2012. Never mind that before Wimbledon he was even top 5 in the race. I can't even imagine how it would look like if it was his 6th slam here, and not Novak's.

Agreed,but maybe that's a good thing,he didn't have all that hype and pressure on his shoulders,as Muzzah did,still do.

Yea, of course, I don't really mind, merely noticing it. Murray practically had no notable results till Olympics, then suddenly he's the next greatest thing. Nothing against him of course, but it's ridiculous hype. Even around RG 2011 when Nole didn't lose a single match and that happened like... never, many people were quick to point he had "just one slam". Screw that.

__________________“There’s so many athletes, tennis players around the world,” he continued, trying to put his life into some kind of perspective, “they want to be the best in what they do. They want to succeed. Many of them, they don’t succeed in the end. I’m fortunate to have this opportunity and succeed.”

Yea, of course, I don't really mind, merely noticing it. Murray practically had no notable results till Olympics, then suddenly he's the next greatest thing. Nothing against him of course, but it's ridiculous hype. Even around RG 2011 when Nole didn't lose a single match and that happened like... never, many people were quick to point he had "just one slam". Screw that.

That's how the British media worksThe hype is unbearable,if it's not Muzzah,it's FedBut Nole still got time to write his own history

^Someone I know who's worked and lived in GBR can give you an answer to all that.They're still stuck a few centuries ago when their country was master of the world so to speak.Still think that anything they produce has to be the best thing in the world.And when it clearly is NOT,look for all pathetic excuses.The British press made a ridiculous picture of Murray the player which led people to believe that HE in person is the one who always complains and looks for excuses.I watched his post-AO pressconference on Yt and he didn't complain,aditted his loss.
Being a fan these 2 is a tough stuff,my relatives who know something about tennis constantly ridicule them and throw misinformation at me.

^Someone I know who's worked and lived in GBR can give you an answer to all that.They're still stuck a few centuries ago when their country was master of the world so to speak.Still think that anything they produce has to be the best thing in the world.And when it clearly is NOT,look for all pathetic excuses.The British press made a ridiculous picture of Murray the player which led people to believe that HE in person is the one who always complains and looks for excuses.I watched his post-AO pressconference on Yt and he didn't complain,aditted his loss.
Being a fan these 2 is a tough stuff,my relatives who know something about tennis constantly ridicule them and throw misinformation at me.

Yeah,in a way you have to feel sorry for him,all that media hype,pressure,sometimes it's cringe worthy.

The past weekend in Charleroi is one which will live long in the memory for driver Dragan Lazendic.

Born in Belgium in 1976 to Serbian parents and having lived in Brussels all his life, this weekend's Davis Cup tie between Belgium and Serbia offered him a chance to take some time off from his day job maintaining ATM cash machines. Instead of keeping the flow of money going, this week he spent his time transporting Novak Djokovic and the rest of the Serbian team between the hotel and Spiroudome.

There was no question that for Lazendic it was a dream come true.

“I have had the honour to drive all the Serbian tennis players,” said Lazendic, who is very proud of his roots. “All times the players are with me they ask to play Serbian music in the car. The players feel very good, they are relaxed and feel as if they are in Serbia. I put on the music and the party begins. They are very good guys.”

Lazendic, who reached a decent level playing in Belgian national competitions, already knows Serbian captain Bogdan Obradovic after traveling to his academy in Belgrade last year to receive his coaching license from the Serbian Federation.

And now this weekend has given him the opportunity to get to know Djokovic. The world No. 1 has been happy to sign autographs for Lazendic’s family and even gave him one of his training tops.

The proudest moment came when Lazendic’s four-year-old nephew Novak got the chance to meet the man he was named after. “I asked Djokovic if it was possible for my family to come and take some pictures with him and he said it was no problem,” Lazendic said. “It’s a great moment for me and my family.

“Now the little Novak has met the great Novak, when we ask my nephew what his last name is, he says Djokovic, not Lazendic.”